Banks required to limit ATM withdrawal at night

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has required credit institutions and branches of foreign banks in the country to limit cash withdrawal at their automatic teller machines (ATMs) at night.
Banks required to limit ATM withdrawal at night ảnh 1Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks in the country are being asked to limit cash withdrawal at their ATMs at night.(Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has requiredcredit institutions and branches of foreign banks in the country to limit cashwithdrawal at their automatic teller machines (ATMs) at night.

A written request issued last week asked the institutions and branches toconsider lowering caps on ATM withdrawal from 11 pm to 5 am to minimisepotential risks for the banks and their clients. 

The agencies should also adopt monitoring measures to warn their cardholdersabout risks, basing on analysis of behaviors and habits, and geographiclocations of their clients.

They are also required to strictly comply with the SBV’s laws and regulationswhile enhancing internal inspections and audits of card payment activities,both in number and quality.

SBV also told them to review all procedures for card payment activities andfully carry out risk prevention measures in each stage in a bid to preventcrime. They also should make their clients more aware of information securityissues.

Also, the agencies should work closely with competent organisations to promptlyhandle and address risks in card payment activities. This move is meant to avoidthe situation in which banking customers complain about lost money for longperiods of time, possibly affecting the prestige of the national bankingsystem.

The SBV’s move was made after several Vietnamese banks had trouble dealing withcard data theft and so-called skimming at ATMs, especially at night, includingAgribank. In April this year, 400 Agribank accounts were the victims of theft.

According to the Ministry of Public Security’s C50 division on anti-cybercrime,it arrested dozens of suspects on charges of ATM theft and bank card-relatedcrimes between 2015 and 2017, with damage ranging from hundreds to billions ofVietnamese dong.

C50 also stated that most thieves who steal money by using skimming devices areof foreign nationality, including China, Malaysia, Bulgaria,the UK and the Netherlands.

Theycommonly target large cities like Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang and Hai Phong.

According to experts, many countries in the world are quickly switching to chipcards that are safer. Vietnam, therefore, might risk becoming a hot spot forcard fraudsters because magnetic stripe cards are still popular here due totheir lower costs. 

About 56 percent of transactions in Asia use chip cards, according toEMVCo, an organisation that facilitates worldwide interoperability andacceptance of secure payment transactions.

According to SBV plans, some 70 million magnetic stripe cards in Vietnam willbe replaced by chip cards meeting EMV standards by 2020.-VNS/VNA
VNA

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